Asian mini-restaurant, poolside bar, more: A look at Alexis Soler's many new Nashville projects

Alexis Soler needed to pick the grout color for the bathrooms.

On an unseasonably warm December day, she sat in the shade of a poolside cabana at the forthcoming Drift Hotel, discussing her many local bar projects. One of them was under construction next to the still-empty pool. Another was inside, beyond the sliding glass doors that overlook the pool.

During an hour-long interview, Soler was politely interrupted three times by Drift's project manager for design guidance. The grout wouldn't pick itself.

Soler laughed, imagining customers dashing off negative reviews about poorly chosen grout.

"That's my biggest fear!" she said.

Save for building materials, fear seems to be something Soler doesn't have much of. She skydives and adventure hikes when she has the time. She opens bars in crowded markets as the cost of doing business soars. In the late 90s, she dropped out of high school at 17 to become a bartender in Miami — a freewheeling time when craft cocktail culture was nascent, but clubs were thriving.

Soler's early dedication put her in a position to take advantage of the coming cocktail revolution.

"The second I walked into a bar, I was like, 'This is what I want to do,'" Soler said. "There was never a question that I was meant to be or do anything else."

Years later, she's where she wants to be.

Soler is now a successful hospitality veteran whose Nashville projects have included Golden Pony, Old Glory, which she opened with her sister Britt Soler, and the since-shuttered but wistfully remembered bar No. 308, among others. She has more in the works, including 11ELEVEN, a bar slated to open next year in the Piggly Wiggly development at 917 Dickerson (details below).

She's also behind the design and food and beverage operations at the boutique Drift Hotel, slated to open early next year in the former Stadium Inn at 10 Interstate Dr.

And she's sitting poolside, chatting about the path that led her from working packed-out nightclubs to picking out the curtains of posh boutique hotels with stunning Nashville skyline views.

'A special bar'

Though Soler started her career bartending in clubs, her professional life took a turn when she was on the opening staff, with legendary bartender John Lermayer, at the Florida Room at the Delano Hotel in Miami, one of the first high-volume cocktail bars in the country. It opened in 2007, and was a star-studded place where celebrities went to see and be seen.

It was the most fun Soler had ever had behind the bar.

It also inspired her to create her own lively, vibey spaces. And as soon as she stepped off a plane in Nashville in 2010, she knew where it needed to happen. There was a certain creative energy in the air. She needed to be a part of it.

"I'm just very like that," Soler said. "If I find something I love, I will die for it."

Soler fully committed to Nashville, opening No. 308 later that year with her then-partner Ben Clemons, now a partner in Tiger Bar and Pearl Diver.

"It just was a special bar, just like moments in time where you just can't explain it, but you just had to be there," Soler said.

She's likely not done yet. But she's living and breathing her work.

Opening bars can be an exhausting business, she said. Eventually, she'd prefer to settle into just designing them and mentoring hopeful entrepreneurs. But more than that, she wants to explore what it's like to not think about work all the time, something she discovered for the first time during COVID's shutdowns.

"I started skydiving, hiking and doing extreme activities," she said. "And I really like pushing myself to those limits and just exploring my own mind and what I was capable of outside of work. That's really important because it's something I've never done because I've been working since I was 17."

She said her parents didn't quite understand her dropping out of high school to launch a career at such a young age — but they weren't exactly surprised either.

"I've always been this way," she said as the contractor appeared with another box of who knows what. "I don't do things I don't want to do. When I'm dedicated to something ― when I get an idea in my head ― I just gotta run with it."

Bars, restaurants: here are Soler's forthcoming projects

11ELEVEN: This bar will open in the forthcoming Piggly Wiggly project on Dickerson Pike. Soler is keeping details on the cocktail program close to her chest for now but dropped hints about some features. The new bar will include an 11-seat Vietnamese-inspired restaurant with a menu that nods to Asian drinking snacks. The food program will be steered by Soler's partner in the project, Michelle Pham.

As its name suggests, the bar will celebrate the number 11:11, said to represent magic and positive events. As such, at 11:11 p.m. each night, something mysterious will happen. Soler couldn't divulge details; she didn't want to spoil the surprises.

"It's going to range from something really epic to like, 'Here's a lollipop,'" she said. "It's always going to be a really fun time. You know, keep them guessing."

The Sun Room: This bar and restaurant at the 114-room Drift Nashville will have a mid-century design with a modern, airy feel, floor-to-ceiling east and west-facing windows, a golden-tiled bar by Red Rock Tileworks and comfortable lounge seating. The afternoon-to-evening hangout will serve what Soler called a variety of "light, effervescent" craft cocktails.

"Stuff you want to drink while you're away," she said.

The kitchen will serve a menu of Spanish-inspired small plates from Drift brand chef Ysaac Ramirez such as oysters, patatas bravas and other shareable plates.

Dawn: This Drift Hotel cafe will serve craft coffee from Good Citizen Coffee Co., paired with light menu items such as pastries, yogurt with candied pistachios and pan con tomate.

Poolside at Drift: Drift’s al fresco poolside bar will open in the spring, featuring snacks and cocktails designed for warmer weather.

Edgar Victoria of Mexican Street food-serving Alebrije will have a food truck onsite, Solar said.

Soler envisions the pool area of Drift as a place where people can gather and enjoy the ground-level pool, neighboring cabanas, gardens, fireplace, communal tables and occasional events.

Drift Hotel is accepting reservations at www.drifthotels.co/nashville.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: New bars, restaurants: Details on Alexis Soler's Nashville projects